Indonesia Multi-Sectoral Response Plan to COVID-19 (Extension 2020)

INTRODUCTION

On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)”. The decision aimed at preventing the spread of the virus around the world, and to strengthen countries’ preparation for active surveillance, early detection, isolation, and case management, contact tracing and mitigation of the onward spread of COVID-19.

As of 23 September, about 32 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including more than 982,000 associated deaths have been reported in 213 countries and territories.

The COVID-19 pandemic is much more than a health crisis; it is a human crisis in every country in the world claiming many lives and threatening the health, social and economic spheres of society. Invariably, the pandemic will diminish social services, economic activities, financial resources and infrastructure and exacerbate people’s existing vulnerabilities including those of low income households with limited or no access to critical healthcare services and lack of safe and nutritious as well as affordable food, those of immunosuppressed people, women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, refugees without access to cash assistance and with limited livelihoods opportunities to support themselves, and migrant and informal sector workers. Those who will be hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis are those already at risk of being left furthest behind: particularly the poorest and most marginalized communities where social inequalities may be further exacerbated and the risk of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse is escalated.

As of 23 September, the Government of Indonesia has confirmed a total of 257,388 cases of COVID-19 throughout all 34 provinces with a total of 9,977 deaths reported. On 13 April 2020, the Government of Indonesia declared COVID-19 as national non-natural disaster. Since 29 May 2020 the Government manages the COVID-19 outbreak emergency response through Presidential Decree No. 11 of 2020 concerning the Establishment of a COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Large scale social restrictions were implemented in major cities with reference to Government Regulation No. 21 of 2020 concerning LargeScale Social Restriction in the Context of COVID-19 response. As of 14 September, Jakarta implements again movement restriction measures due to an increase in the number of cases that has taken the health system to its limit.

Indonesia has identified and prioritized its response, including testing, tracing and treatment (3T) to mitigate the further spread of the coronavirus, in eight provinces (Jakarta, East Java, West Java, North Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Central Java, Papua and South Sulawesi) which account for about 70 percent of the total number of confirmed cases in the country.

Indonesia’s emergence as one of the world’s leading economies with ensuing strong economic growth, a rapid decrease in poverty rates, improvements in education and access to better health services, food, water, sanitation, and electricity is challenged. The COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect important gains accrued over the past years across a range of SDGs are at risk; including progress in the fight against poverty (SDG1), food security and nutrition (SDG2) and is likely to exacerbate inequalities (SDG10), particularly gender inequality (SDG5). This pandemic has also seen an interruption in routine health services (SDG3).

The economic impact of COVID-19 in Indonesia is fundamentally affecting macro-economic stability and employment. The World Bank and the Ministry of Finance have reassessed 2020 economic growth from 5% to around 2%, and although it is too early to assess with certainty, a worst-case scenario may even foresee minus growth in 2020. It is estimated that an additional 5.9 million to 8.5 million people will become poor due to COVID-19. As of 31 July 2020, 3.5 million workers have been reportedly laid off from their jobs as a result of this crisis, and more layoffs are expected to happen. The ADB estimates that the unemployment loss due to COVID-19 could reach 7.2 million people.

In addition, Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. The coping capacity of the country will likely be reduced in case of major natural disaster occurrence. BNPB (the National Agency for Disaster Management) recorded 1,944 disasters between 1 January and 3 September 2020, which caused 272 deaths and directly affected more than 3,8 million people.

Mindful that current responses may fall short of addressing the global scale and complexity of the pandemic, this document outlines the manner in which organizations of the Indonesia Humanitarian Country Team and other agencies of the United Nations system in the country will come together in a coordinated way to support government-led response efforts to this emergency and alleviate the impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Given the magnitude of the emergency, this COVID-19 Response Plan is a joint commitment by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) to support the Government of Indonesia, and covers a range of issues through a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach which, during the first six months of the emergency focuses on life-saving and early recovery activities. The multi-sectoral response plan is aligned with the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, the Global Humanitarian Response Plan, and the UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-economic Response to COVID-19. The plan will need regular updating to match the unique and evolving nature of this emergency with the most effective and appropriate activities. In September and October, the HCT and UNCT revisited the Plan, following its agreement to extend the implementation duration until 31 December 2020, as the ascending trend of COVID-19 cases continued.